Most powerful and fastest Ford Mustang on the road

Develop a model variant of the Ford Mustang that can compete with the best European sports cars? This was the task facing a handful of employees at Ford Performance in the US state of Michigan in 2021. The development goal: a lap time on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife in under seven minutes. The result was the Mustang GTD with a 588 kW (800 hp) 5.2-liter V8 turbocharged engine, the fastest street-legal derivative Ford has ever developed. The designation comes from the North American IMSA series, where its GT3 racing counterpart will compete in the GTD class ("GT Daytona") next year.

A carbon-fiber propshaft is responsible for the supercar's power transmission. It connects the engine to an 8-speed direct-shift transmission on the rear axle and, in this transaxle design, ensures an even weight balance between the front and rear axles. This is complemented by a suspension system with adaptive springs that lowers the car by 40 millimeters in race track use.

The wide body with its powerful rear wing and hydraulically adjustable aerodynamic elements at the front and rear are also made primarily of carbon fiber, as are the drive shafts and the carbon ceramic brakes. In terms of track width, the Mustang GTD exceeds the GT production model by almost ten centimeters, its 325-millimeter front tires already matching its rear wheels. The rear axle is fitted with 345-millimeter-wide 20-inch tires.

Ford CEO Jim Farley is mighty proud of the new mega-Mustang and challenges "everyone else," as the car shows "what Ford Motor Company can do and what our team is capable of every day. I like to compete with it on the racetrack against the other carmaker bosses with their respective fastest road-going sports cars." Oliver Blume (Porsche), Stephan Winkelmann (Lamborghini), Benedetto Vigna (Ferrari) or Mate Rimac (Bugatti) will have heard.

At the end of 2024, beginning of 2025 the Mustang GTD produced in manual work is to come on the market. The edition is limited. In the U.S., Ford anticipates an expected retail price starting at $300,000. (aum)